The Jefferson collection

In January 2007, Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, became the first Muslim in the US Congress. He was sworn in on Jefferson’s own copy of the Koran.
Lawrence Jackson/Associated Press/file

The Jefferson collection

Two centuries ago, a religiously uniform legislature planted the seed for a wide-ranging Library of Congress.

Jon Elswick/Associated Press/file 2010
| October 27, 2015

After the British burned the original collection in the War of 1812, Congress sought to procure Thomas Jefferson’s library at Monticello as a replacement.

Abby Brack Lewis/Library of Congress
| October 27, 2015

However, Jefferson’s books included texts from a number of religious traditions. He owned a score of Bibles, a two-volume Koran, a history of “heathen gods,” and works by Deist philosophers—and that was precisely the problem. Such heterodox titles reflected his opinion that religion should be a personal affair, guided by curiosity and reason. In the end, the bill to purchase the collection passed, but barely.

HARAZ N. GHANBARI/Associated Press
| October 27, 2015

True to Jefferson’s sense that “there is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer,” the Library of Congress today represents a proudly diverse American heritage of knowledge, interest, and belief. Pictured: The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

MARCY NIGHSWANDER/Associated Press/file 1997
| October 27, 2015

In January 2007, Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, became the first Muslim in the US Congress. He was sworn in on Jefferson’s own copy of the Koran.